Thomas sands



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS SANDS, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 THOMAS SANDS ANDJNO. P. LINDSAY.

PARLOR-ORG'AN.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 14,992, dated May 27, 1856.

T 0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Trios. SANDS, of Chelsea, in the county of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Parlor-Crgans, of which the following' is a full, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure l is a plan of an instrument with my improvementsattached; Fig. 2, a section upon the line A, A, of Fig. l; Fig. 3, asection upon the line B, B, of Fig. l.

It has long been a desideratum to construct a pipe organ of a size andshape that would adapt it for use in the parlors of private dwellings,but thus far without success, owing to the great length of the keys andof the action, as well as of the organ pipes, which so enlarged theinstrument as to unfit it for introduction into private houses.

My invention has for its object the removal of these difficulties andconsists in certain details of construction and in a peculiararrangement of the parts, which I will now proceed to describe.

The first part of my invention whereby the great height of theinstrument is avoided, consists in such an arrangement of the pipes withrespect to each other that they may be placed in a horizontal positionone above the other, without having their mouths covered by thoseimmediately over them, whereby I am enabled to inclose the whole withina case not larger than that of an ordinary grand piano.

In the accompanying drawings a portion of the case is removed to showthe parts within. The lower tier of pipes C, is placed directly upon thebed of the instrument D. These pipes have their mouth pieces at c. Abovethese is placed another tier E, which are removed so far back as toleave the mouth pieces of those beneath them, entirely unobstructed. Thepipes E, communicate with the wind chest F, by means of conductors G. Athird and fourthitier of pipes may be placed above the pipes E, carebeing taken as before to leave the mouth vpieces of each tierunobstructed by the pipes above them, and to'connectthem all byconductors of suiiicient length, with the wind chest. The requisitenumber of pipes may thus be arranged within a very limited space, andwithout increasing the height of the instrument above that of anordinary piano.

I will now describe the peculiar arrangement and construction of theaction and of the keys, whereby I am enabled greatly to reduce thelength of the instrument. H, are the keys which in lieu of extendinginto the body of the instrument, as in the organs heretoforeconstructed, are pivoted at a., (Fig. 3,) and rest upon rods Z), whichrise from the levers I. Upon the opposite end of these levers rest thestickers II. As the key is depressed the jacks L, are vibrated aroundtheir pivots (Z, and the va ves M, connected thereto by the wires f, areopened. I am thus enabled to place the wind chest together with all theparts necessary to give motion to the valves immediately back of the keyboard. IVith this compact arrangement of the action, it would not bepossible were all the levers I, arranged side by side, to introduce therequisite number of notes for a full key board; to enable me toaccomplish this, I have placed these levers in two tiers one above theother, by which arrangement I am enabled to make use of a full key boardwithout unnecessarily increasing the width or length of the instrument.

I will now describe the coupler employed for the purpose of connectingeach note with its octave above. N, are the coupler bars which arepivoted at their extremities to a. frame or carriage R, which is movedout, or in, toward, or from the stickers II, in the following manner. S,are levers pivoted at 71, and having their lower ends secured to thesliding carriage R. Through the upper ends of these levers pass theshipper levers T, which are pivoted to the wind chest, and are vibratedaround their centers by the sliding block V. From one end of each of thecoupler bars N, project the bent wires g, which pass through slots inthe stickers K, (Figs. 2 and From the other end of the coupler bars N,project the rods n, which carry auxiliary stickers p, that are connectedwith the jacks L, of the octave notes. These jacks however when operatedby their own keys, are allowed to rise without moving the auxiliarystickers p.

IVhen the coupler bars are drawn back as seen Figs. l, and 3, the lowerportion of the wires g, rest upon the bottom of the slots in thestickers, and as the latter are raised by the depression of the keys,the bars N, are vibrated and the octave of the note struck is alsosounded. When the coupler bars are thrown forward by the connectionsalready explained, the stickers in rising do not touch the wires g, andthe octave is not sounded.

1Where metal pipes are used as for the flute and other stops, it isnecessary that they be so connected with the instrument, that they maybe at any moment removed and replaced for tuning, cleansing, or repairs.

There the pipes stand vertically there is no ditliculty, as the weightof the pipes is sutlicient to keep them upon their seats, and I haveadopted the following means for the purpose when these pipes are placedhorizontally. 0, is a metallic pipe, the open l. Arranging thepipeshorizontally in compact tiers, one`above the other, when each succeedingtier is placed at a greater distance from the wind chest than t-he onebelow it, for the accommodation ot the mouths of the pipes, all thepipes except those of the lower tier being connected with the wind chestby means of the conductors G as set forth.

2. I claim the peculiar combination and arrangement of the action hereindescribed, with the short keys I-I, that is to say the combination ofthe keys H, the levers I, thc stickers K, and the jacks L, operating inthe manner, and tor the purpose substantially as herein described.

3. I claim the coupler rods N, with their bent wires g, in combinationwith the stickers K, and the auxiliary stickers p, for the purpose ofcoupling the notes with their octaves as set forth.

4L. I claim the method herein described of holding the metallic pipes inplace by means of the bar I), the rod m, and the spring Q, operating inthe manner herein described.

THOS. SANDS-.-- I/Vitnesses D. IN. NEssEP., SAM. COOPER.

